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Tottenham Hotspur manager Jose Mourinho has said he feels "depressed" when talking about Harry Kane's hamstring injury. The Spurs captain has been ruled out until April after sustaining the injury in Spurs' 1-0 defeat against Southampton on New Year's Day. - ESPN Premier League fantasy: Sign up now!
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- Premier League winter break: All you need to know Kane is set to have surgery on his left hamstring but Mourinho is not too optimistic about the club's chances of signing a striker during the January transfer window. "Harry is important and irreplaceable, no player can replace Harry Kane," he told a news conference ahead of the Premier League clash against runaway leaders Liverpool. "I know you [the reporters] want to speak about Harry, I don't want to speak because if I speak too much I get a bit depressed and then you are going to say I am miserable and depressed and in a bad mood so it's better to speak about things that make me laugh. "The reality is that I came here two months ago, I knew the situation. I didn't know I would lose Harry and Moussa Sissoko for so long. "But the situation was to get the best out of the players that we have. That doesn't change." Spurs host Liverpool on Saturday and Mourinho said he knew Jurgen Klopp's side would win the league back in October. "When I was working with you [Sky Sports], I told you Liverpool would be champions and this was three months ago," he added. "For me the situation they are at is no surprise -- they are the best team in our competition It is a big challenge and we would prefer to play against them with everybody available but that is the way it is." Speaking to ESPN Brasil, Spurs midfielder Lucas Moura defended Mourinho's tactics and style of management. Mourinho, who was sacked from Manchester United in 2018, took over for Mauricio Pochettino last November. "I don't think he is outdated at all. The titles he won and the history he has cannot be forgotten. He didn't forget how to manage a team," Moura said. "The beginning of his work is being positive for all of us. The team is very interested, we are really enjoying his work. "He is always paying attention to everything, he talks with us all of the time and he loves his tactics. As I was saying about the short time he is with us, he actually said that it's rare to become a manager of a new team in the middle of the season. It is hard to change everything so quickly. But he is managing to do that step by step. I think he still has a lot to give. I am with him everyday and I can feel that thirst to win games." Moura added that players like himself and Son Heung-Min will need step up in Kane's and Sissoko's absence. "Kane is our go-to guy, he is our top scrorer. You talked about England, but he can be considered one of the best in the world, too. He is our captain, a fan favourite. It is a major setback, even more because we don't have in our roster a player with his skills. We will try and do our best, myself, Son or whoever plays at striker so we can help our team even with different skills," Moura said. Mourinho also said defender Kyle Walker-Peters is likely to join Crystal Palace on loan for the rest of the season.
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